The Unseen Avenger ∘ Marvel

chapter three; fun and games

We were almost to the drop point where Cap would intercept Loki, but local news report began to pour in on the location. I opened a few live articles, scowling once I read the headlines of a disturbed gala, "Citizen control is gonna be hell. Guy with 'an ornate stick' just opened attack on a party."

Natasha began to descend, amping up the jet's speed once she came out of cloud cover. She shakes her head, adjusting more controls, "Let's just say this'll shape up to be quite interesting."

I peered out the main window over the plaza, and that is exactly what I see. Loki, no, four Loki's had herded civilians into a box-like shape just across the street from the original spotting sight. At first glance, there must be at least a hundred people down there, all corralled by flickering images of a horned man.

"We're just gonna open the doors and drop you, alright?" I yell back towards the cabin as the bay doors open, completely setting up my headset. Out of habit, I unbuckle my seatbelt, ready to assist if needed. Natasha hovers the quinjet just above the crowd, my breath hitching once I get a better look at the scene. Loki raises his scepter to a civilian, an electric blue beam from staff pulsing like lightning for the man, finally hitting Cap's shield.

"Last time I was in Germany," he says, strolling towards the Asgardian or whatever the hell he is, "I saw a man standing above everyone else. We ended up disagreeing."

An evil smirk passes over Loki's face, dancing with mischievous glee, "The soldier. The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Rogers says just as I flip a few switches. The gun ports open as the quinjets weaponry becomes trained on the alien.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Romanoff's voice echoes out through the jet's speaker, booming over the sight. The target just keeps smiling, hand moving fast. I whip over to look at Nat as she grips the controls as Loki shoots another suspected 'magical' beam at us. Natasha maneuvers just in time, giving Cap an opportunity to throw his shield at Loki.

And the two have at it. After a few kicks and punches, Rogers is on the ground. He throws his shield at his adversary, but Loki deflects it. Cap tries to throw a few more punches, but is flung back. Loki plants his scepter on his helmet.

"Kneel!" he screams, which sends off a few warning signs in my brain.

"Natasha, we have guns." I say through clenched teeth, but me and her both know they're too close together, "Or me-"

I spot Rogers go rigid before a flip," Not today!"

He knocks Loki with his leg, momentarily fazing him before he flings the soldier away.

"The guy is all over the place." Natasha comments, still trying to get guns on Loki without wounding Rogers. I watch as the first Avenger falls on the ground again. I shake my head in absolute disgust. Time for backup.

I quickly start to untangle my headset from my hair, ready to jump out after the two. I hear a very audible sigh from my partner, but I still jog done to the other end of the aircraft. My quick glance at Natasha telegraphs she's not happy with me, but is still focused on finding a target lock. Nothing hinders me whilst I reopen the bay doors, but the action is delayed. The system freezes up, replaced by blaring rock music. I groan as I hear AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" blast through the quinjet's speakers.

"Stark." I mumble, slumping back from the control panel. Darnnit.

The too familiar voice of Tony Stark plays in my earpiece, "Agent Romanoff, Agent Firman did you miss me?"

Not really.

Both Loki and Cap look up as Iron Man flies in. He brings up a hand, blasting the alien back as Rogers goes to retrieve his shield. Stark's suit pulls out every piece of weaponry, all aiming at Loki.

"Make your move Reindeer Games."

The alien puts his hands up, his fancy attire flickering and fading away into regular Asgardian attire. Cap reunites with the two.

"Good move." Iron Man says, pulling back some of his weapons.

"Mr. Stark." Rogers greets.

"Captain."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I remember when I used to get scared at night about the monsters under my bed. My dad would come into my room to find me huddling myself under ten blankets. I told him it was my armor. He'd laugh, then say that I didn't need it. He said monsters and villains weren't real.

He was obviously lying because I had a villain tied up in the back of the quinjet. Every so often, I'd look back to make sure Loki was still tied up. Then I'd look at Stark and Rogers, feel relieved and turn back, only to repeat the cycle all over again. Occasionally I'd also check my pistol, change out the magazine and re-c**k it, a familiar and comforting action.

On my eighth round of this, I finally decided it was just silly and eavesdropped on Rogers and Stark whisper.

"I don't like it."

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony said, and I heard a slightly annoyed tone in his voice.

"I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop."

"Still, you're pretty spry for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?"

"What?"

Why was this conversation amusing me? And I could see Natasha smirk through the corner of my eye.

" It's sort of like calisthenics," Stark continues," You might have missed a few things, ya know, doing time as a Capsicle."

Yes, this was amusing for some odd reason. I hear an awkward silence as thunder rumbles in the far distance. Where's that coming from? My triangulation showed there were no storms in our path.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." Rogers presses.

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

True.

More silence. Stark looks past the captain at me," So, when did you become that stylist guy from the Hunger Games?"

"What?" Nat and I say at the same time. Rogers just looks lost.

"Ya know, black guy? Three different piercings?"

I roll my eyes. Typical Tony, "That's Cinna. My name is Sienna. And to you, that's Agent Firman."

"Where did your attitude come from?" he spits.

"Where did your obnoxiousness come from?"

"Well if you excuse me, my obnoxiousness is also called charm."

Natasha snorts.

"Hey," Stark shrugs," You know it's true!"

I think he sometimes forgets that Natasha was just pretending to be attracted to him to spy on him.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I say, turning back to the sky.

"Huh?" Is all that Rogers mutters.

Suddenly, lightning hits the jet, making it shake violently as thunder roars above us. I look back at the passengers, seeing Loki glance around, looking quite terrified.

"What," I scoff," Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows."

We hear a clank on the top of the jet as we look up. A small dent has formed. Threat onsite.

The ramp is pried as the silhouette of a large man comes into focus. Stark charges him, only to be hit away with a hammer. Wait, hammer? THOR! The guy who tried to kill me. One of the many on the list of people attempting to murder me.

He snatches at Loki's collar before disappearing into the night.

"And then there's that guy." Stark grumbles.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha shouts over the wind.

"Thinks it's a friendly?" Rogers asks.

Do they read the reports they are given? I attempt to speak, but as usual, Stark does enough for me.

"Doesn't matter," Stark goes on," if he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseracts lost."

"We need a plan of attack!" The Captain yells over the wind.

"I have a plan. Attack." Is all he says before blasting him and his suit into the night after Thor.

Seriously Stark?

Rogers goes for a parachute to follow him.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap." Nat curtly tells him as he fiddles with the pack.

"I don't see how I can." He answers, buckling the straps.

"These guys come from legend, they're basically gods."

He just looks at Natasha," There's only one God ma'am, and I'm sure he doesn't dress like that."

He jumps out.

"And there he goes." I mumble, a little sad I'm not in on the fighting.

I stare at the open ramp, considering what I'm about to do. Finally, I unbuckle myself from the seat.

"Sienna." Nat chides," You're going to get yourself killed, or worse, suspended again."

I just smile, loading my 19'11 pistol with one of my special bullets," Somebody's gotta tell the boys to play nice."

She just glares at me. I put my hand on my hip," Come on, you'd do the same thing if you weren't flying."

"Perhaps."

"There rests my case,"

"You know," Romanoff looks back at the sky, "Layla Renning was supposed to take your place. She called in sick last minute."

"Really?"

"Yes, and I bet she wouldn't have jumped out of the plane."

"She wouldn't be as fun,"I say above the wind, looking down the at the foggy scenery beneath me, seeing tree tops and planning my landing. I breathe in and out, then jump.

I fall through the sky, wind whipping all around me, my hair flooding my face as gravity takes me. Call me crazy, but I love the sensation of falling. No parachute, no nothing. Just the quick, decisive sensation of losing yourself in the wind. You're probably thinking I'm committing suicide. You are very wrong.

I turn in the sky, my back facing the ground. I pull up my pistol and shoot. A rope flies out of the barrel, latching on to the jet. I see the ground as a tuck my self into a ball, bracing for impact. The ground hits me hard as I roll. I keep my grip on the pistol as it pulls me up and to the side as the jet moves. After being dragged a little, I pull the trigger again, releasing the rope.

I give myself a second to breathe, then take off toward the sound of fighting, running through the strong aroma of pine. I come to a little clearing and look up. Lights stream across the sky, two figures battling. Loki and Iron Man? I narrow my vision, making out a hammer among them. Thor? Wait, where the hell is Loki? I see Cap as he touches the ground, his parachute collapsing in a heap.

Cap can take care of the boys. Where is Loki? I fiddle with my belt, pulling out mini night vision binoculars. I look around, spotting a figure on a cliff. He appears to be just watching Thor and Iron Man battle. Why is he just staying there?

Questions later. Secure target. I begin to run again, loading my pistol on the way. I halfway there when I hear raised voices. The good guys are fighting with each other. Men.

I get to the edge of the cliff, loading another rope bullet to scale it. Loaded, I point it up, my finger sliding around the trigger. I start to pull.

Then, I'm thrown back by a force I can't describe. It's hard, and I'm tossed like a rag doll against a tree, which I knock down, or the force does. I feel pain flare in my shoulder, correction, my entire back. My head hurts, the edges fuzzy as I moan. I start to sit up. What the heck was that? I feel the back of my neck. A bump, big.

I stagger up. Gotta get back to the clearing. I look around. Everything's a clearing. Trees have been thrown over like toys.

My head throbs, my shoulder on fire. I let out a muffled groan. I look up, blood rushing from my head. I see Loki, still in his spot. I look where he's looking and head off that way. I stumble through trees, which have created a maze. I weave through it, finally seeing something. A crater almost, with the trees flung away creating a circular shape. I'm guessing whatever caused the force started here.

I look up, and I see the quinjet. Iron Man flies down towards me, while Thor heads in the direction of Loki. Stark tries to pick me up, but I point a gun at him.

"Touch me, you die."

"Wow, someone not in a good mood."

I c**k the pistol.

"Woah, I'm so scared of a gun in my bulletproof armor!" he says in a teenage girl voice. I smile, then point the gun up, a rope flying out of the barrel towards the quinjet. The rope starts to retract, pulling me upward as Stark flies by me.

I end up on the ramp of the jet, in which I have to climb onto. With a busted shoulder. I grip at the ramp, pain searing through me. Rogers outstretches a hand, then pulls me up by my bad shoulder. I give a very audible groan and a grimace once I'm up.

"Are you okay ma'am?"

I stare at him, fighting a grimace," Just a concussion. And the arm you pulled me up on got burned a few days ago. And the right half of my body hurts. A lot."

"I'm sorry. What can I do for you?"

Nineteen-forties politeness. I've read about it. Guess the pages don't lie.

"Tell me what happened out there."

"I came to see the big guy with the hammer, Thor, and Stark fighting. I told them to stop, and for Thor to put the hammer down. Not the best idea, because he then tried to hit me. I put my shield up naturally, and it started a wave of something..........hurtful?"

Poor guy, down on the technological age.

"Thank you for explaining."

"No problem, ma'am."

I turn to Stark," You mister, were supposed to get Loki! You guys left him all alone! He could have escaped! What is this to you, fun and games?"

"What, Hammer Dude decided to fight! "

I roll my eyes, turning back to go to my seat" Fine, but don't think it won't be in my report."

"And what are you going to do?"

I spin on my heel. Comeback, comeback. I need one.

I must have thought to long, because Stark just snorts," That's what I guessed."

I go back to my chair, sitting next to Nat. I put my face in my hands, my elbows on the dashboard. My headache throbs, my shoulder burns.

And I have accomplished nothing.